


Winning (Against) Yoon Jeonghan

by stilljunhui (acyria)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Cameos by other groups, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-11-02 04:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10936911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acyria/pseuds/stilljunhui
Summary: Jeonghan should have learned by now that Jisoo never made a bet unless he was sure to win.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> cross-posted with more notes and info on aff!  
> [ https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1237574/ ]

Break ups, failed relationships, and broken hearts. Yoon Jeonghan was pretty used to these things, although he had hoped he wouldn't be. Nearly 2 years in the industry meant that he got around often; once the dating ban was lifted, he got around even more. It wasn't hard especially with his well known good looks and charming personality. However, he didn't think dating as an idol would be _this_ hard, if he had to be honest. Sure, keeping things hidden was a given, but regardless, something always went wrong.

With that thought in mind, he found himself waltzing into the room that was shared by Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Jisoo. He knew the younger ones had a radio show to host which meant Jisoo should be the only one in the room. Sure enough, he found the pink haired boy on his bed, lazily plucking at his guitar. He was probably tuning it again, a habit that never disappeared even when his guitar was never out of tune to begin with. Jisoo looked up once he heard the door close and offered Jeonghan a smile before going back to his guitar; only to look back up at the loud sigh Jeonghan let out.

“Two months,” Jeonghan said the moment he got Jisoo’s attention, lying down on one of the empty beds, probably Seokmin's. “Broke up today. You don’t think I’m too suffocating, do you?”

“Jeonghan, how can you be suffocating if you haven’t even gone out with…” Jisoo paused as if trying to remember something, which made Jeonghan roll his eyes because Hong Jisoo _never_ forgets. It was definitely an act, probably to emphasize how many dates Jeonghan has gone with different people. Jisoo did that bit often. “Minhee, right? In weeks. You stopped when we started practice again. Don’t you think maybe that’s why? She wouldn’t understand what dating an idol is like.”

Jeonghan hummed in agreement, “yeah, she probably has some kind of fantasy that I can’t live up to.” 

“She probably does. Her and the other multitude of girls and guys you’ve dated. Then again, even the idol ones don’t seem to last, huh? How many has it been again?” Jisoo asked, a teasing smile on his face when Jeonghan turned to stick his tongue out at him. As harsh as the words appeared, he knew there was a layer of genuine concern under them. Jisoo never explicitly said Jeonghan should stop, but he did jokingly complain about how Jeonghan should find someone else to rant to every now and then. The latter liked ranting to Jisoo the most though, because he never saw or treated Jeonghan differently even with all that's been happening.

“Whatever, Hong Jisoo,” he found himself saying, shooting the other boy a challenging look. “At least I _actually_ go out and date people. I’m hardly romantically challenged.” 

Jisoo raised his brows at that, face unreadable as he stared back at Jeonghan, “what do you mean by that?”

“I know how to get people to date me,” Jeonghan said simply, crossing his arms across his chest in triumph.

Instead of admitting defeat or agreeing like Jeonghan expected him to do, Jisoo chuckled instead, which confused him. Jisoo wasn’t supposed to find this funny. He was supposed to say yes, Jeonghan was right, he didn’t go on dates and therefore wouldn’t understand. Then he was supposed to continue helping Jeonghan with his dating problem, or ask for advice from the other boy on how to date so he can get on with his life and have fun, too.

He does none of these.

He continues to smile.

“What’s with your weird smile, Shua?”  Jeonghan asked warily. 

Before Jisoo could open his mouth to reply, Jihoon enters the room with a question on his lips— something about asking Jisoo about his latest composition and whether he could help— but it falls short upon noticing Jeonghan in the room, too. He glanced back and forth between the two; from Jeonghan’s confused expression to Jisoo’s cheeky one. While a confused Jeonghan was common, the sight of the other boy was not. Something was going on. Jihoon always wanted to know what was going on. 

“Alright,” he said instead, plopping himself down next to Jisoo. “Speak. What’s up?” 

Jeonghan’s hand immediately shot out to point at Jisoo, “Jisoo here’s been silently judging me again for going on dates, which I don’t think is fair because he doesn’t even have a love life.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened in surprise and question, turning to Jisoo next.

“He doesn’t know?”

Jeonghan blinked, “what don’t I know?”

Jisoo still had that small smile on his lips as he shook his head at Jihoon, pretending to ignore the question that was just thrown by the other boy, “he doesn’t. Unlike our good friend Jeonghan, I don’t make it a point to update the group chat about dates I go on.”

“Hey!” Jeonghan exclaimed, pouting a little. There was an odd feeling brewing inside him, not exactly betrayal since he understood Jisoo’s point— more like unease. He didn’t think there was anything he wouldn’t know about the American boy. “We’re supposed to be friends— best friends! We should tell each other these things!”

“It’s hard telling you anything without you first complaining about a break up,” Jisoo said casually. He peered at Jeonghan, almost playfully. “I never really minded. I figured between the two of us, you took up the talking aspect of the friendship.”

Jihoon snorted, “he’s not wrong.”

“Hey!” Jeonghan complained again, causing Jihoon to snicker and promptly leave the room, claiming the two should discuss these things alone. He had better things to do, apparently. 

“Well,” Jeonghan continued once the small boy left, dragging the vowels of the word, shaking off what he felt before and opting to take things lightly. Jisoo had a point. This was nothing to feel weird about. He offered a cheerful grin. “Now’s the time to talk. Spill. Who have you gone on dates with?”

“The past is in the past,” Jisoo said in a sing-song tone that sounded vaguely like a song from Frozen. 

Jeonghan rolled his eyes, “alright, fine. Who are you dating now, then?”

He didn’t mean to make it come out nervous, but was surprised to find that it did. Jisoo going on dates didn’t bother him— right? Yes, yeah, it definitely didn’t. What bothered him was that he didn’t know, and just like Jihoon and probably everybody else in Seventeen, he liked knowing things. He only told them so they’d know what their darling angel was up to. Jisoo should have done the same. Then again, Jihoon seemed to know. Was he the only one out of the loop? 

“I’m not dating anyone,” came Jisoo’s reply, which relieved Jeonghan of a worry he didn’t know he had. “I do like someone though, but I haven’t done anything about it.”

Jeonghan brightened, “oh! I can help with this! I’m good at getting people, trust me. Who is she?”

He gave Jisoo his biggest, brightest smile— the type that usually got him whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. It usually worked on Jisoo, too, but apparently not today. The other boy merely chuckled, “no thanks, Yoon. I don’t need to be so obvious.”

“You mean, you’re just going to do your shy boy act and wait till she makes a move first?” Jeonghan scoffed. “That’s so lame, Jisoo, live a little.”

“Hey, it’s worked before,” Jisoo retaliated, reminding Jeonghan yet again that he has actually gone on dates; not that Jeonghan needed any reminding, since he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind. He vaguely drew up some memories of Jisoo mentioning dates here and there, but nothing concrete that his mind can actually latch on to. Maybe it was his fault for not noticing his friend going on dates, after all. He can't remember who they were with though. He wished he did.

“I just wanna help,” Jeonghan commented lightly, feigning a look of hurt. “We’re friends, Jisoo. Besides, you might be hopeless this time and you’ll never get her to notice you.”

“I think I’ll manage.”

“Wanna bet?”

Jeonghan grinned as he asked, knowing full well that bets were a thing all members of Seventeen took very, very seriously. With thirteen boys, there had to be some sort of friendly competition here and there. Then again, Jisoo was probably one of the members who didn’t participate in bets very often, but if he knew his friend well enough, sometimes he just couldn’t resist. Jisoo regarded him for a few seconds, looking lost in thought, before finally nodding.

“Alright, fine. How are we doing this?”

“Excellent,” Jeonghan clapped his hands, moving from his place on Seokmin’s bed to sit beside Jisoo. “You have to get your crush to date you without being obvious. That's your thing, right? No confessions, she can’t know your feelings, no outside help.”

“How long do I have to win my crush’s interests?”

“A month.”  
  
Jisoo shrugged, “alright, fair enough. I’m still not telling you who my crush is, though.”

Drat. Jeonghan had hoped the bet would get Jisoo to confide in him. He was dying to know, but figured if they were already making a bet out of it, then he’ll find out sooner or later. It's probably more fair if he didn't know so he couldn't meddle, but hey— he's Yoon Jeonghan. Playing fair doesn't come easily to him. He could always figure it out on his own, anyway. Jisoo may be shy and subtle, but surely something like a crush would be obvious, right? 

“Fine,” he said instead. “Let’s get Jihoon again. Does he know?”

“No, but I could tell him,” Jisoo said with a confident, almost devil-may-care smile that wasn’t something usually seen on his face. The sight made Jeonghan a tiny bit nervous. He shook it off immediately. “That way he can judge when I win.”

Jeonghan nodded, standing up to go get Jihoon. He was nearly out the door when he realized what the other boy said.

“Wait a minute, who said you’ll win?!”

Jisoo’s laugh followed him out of the room. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

_“Lee Jihoon, we need your help!”_

Jeonghan’s voice rang across the hallway all the way back to the room. Jisoo chuckled to himself when he heard further shouts from the boy followed by odd noises that made him slightly suspicious about what they were doing. However, he was soon distracted by a much more foreboding sense of doom that won over the worry of disturbing Jihoon’s peace; he had made a bet with Jeonghan.

Jeonghan, his unrequited crush since the boy entered Pledis Entertainment so many years ago.

It didn't seem like a bad idea. Maybe just a little bit. Jisoo figured this could be his chance to get something done. He thought the initial crush he got on the other would disappear, but years later it only managed to grow. He had tried dating around, but nothing seemed to work out, and Jisoo soon stopped seeing it as a _Jisoo problem_ and more of a _Jeonghan problem_. As long as the boy was there, he just couldn't find himself completely falling for anybody else, even if he admired other people. 

If the bet doesn't go well, Jihoon can just tell Jeonghan that Jisoo failed. He wouldn't have to know it was him, which was a good fallback and made things just slightly less risky. If it does go well, Jisoo would be overjoyed but there were also more worries that came along with it. Hopefully it's something they'll be able to tackle, but that wasn’t important yet. His main focus now was how he should win the bet and win the boy who holds his heart. 

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps outside, heading his way.

Jihoon entered the room again with a grumpy look that meant Jeonghan must have stolen him from doing something important— or from sleeping, which was pretty important to the blonde haired member— causing Jisoo to give him an apologetic smile before they started explaining things again. His grumpy demeanour faded away with each word, and by the end of it, he was shaking his head at Jeonghan. 

"This was a mistake. You _know_ Shua never makes a bet unless he's sure to win."

Jeonghan huffed, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're going to lose," Jihoon said simply. "What my role here again?" 

“You’re the middle man for this bet. Jisoo won’t tell me who his mystery girl is, but he’ll tell you,” Jeonghan whined, pouting just a little. “You can be the judge about whether his ways are subtle or not, just make sure the girl doesn’t get big hints.” 

Jihoon glanced questioningly at Jisoo, who merely gave a sheepish smile in return, already knowing what was on his mind since they started explaining the bet. Jeonghan had kept mentioning a girl. The younger boy was well aware that Jisoo’s dating habits didn’t exactly include girls— never did, most likely never will. 

“As long as I get the person I like to date me while still being subtle, I win,” Jisoo explained further, rewording what Jeonghan said and earning a small smile of acceptance from Jihoon. 

“Alright,” the latter finally said. “Tell me then.”

Jisoo shooed Jeonghan away, which the member finally did after a few more moments of complaints. Once he was successfully out of the room and in a different bedroom instead, did Jisoo turn towards Jihoon. For added security measures, he had locked the door and chose the corner farthest from it. Jihoon waited rather impatiently, but he waited nonetheless. Finally, once everything was settled, Jisoo took a deep breath.

“I like—“

“Jeonghan.”

“Jeo— wait, _what?_ ” Jisoo asked, jaw dropping when Jihoon laughed at his face in response.

The shorter boy smirked, “it’s pretty obvious, but you’re lucky Yoon’s so damn dense. I don’t know if the other members picked it up, but I sure did. Jeonghan definitely won’t. Remember how long it took Seungcheol to ask him out?”

Jisoo shrugged, not answering. Of course, he remembered, since Jeonghan didn’t shut up about it for days; they weren’t shy either. It was one of the things that gave Jisoo a glimmer of hope, though, finding out that Jeonghan was into guys as well. The thing with Seungcheol didn't work out in the end, but thankfully it didn't create drama within the group. Just like when he thought he and Seungcheol would work out, too, but that was also in the past. They still have the same friendship, so it was all good. 

“Anyways,” Jihoon said, after a bit of an awkward pause. "You're finally doing something, huh?" 

"I gusss," Jisoo replied. Truth be told, this was the only step he knew. The rest actually depended on Jeonghan, if he knew his best friend well enough.

The other boy regarded him thoughtfully for a few seconds before finally nodding. 

"Alright. Call him in so I can laugh at his face for basically referring to himself as a girl, not that he knows. This is going to be pretty fun. Can I tell him it’s a guy?”

Jisoo nodded, “yeah, feel free. He should at least know that bit.” 

He went back to the door and unlocked it, wondering where Jeonghan was, only to see said boy sitting on the floor a few meters away. The latter perked up when the door opened, quickly getting to his feet and rushing in the room before Jisoo could even get a word in. He ignored the American boy in favor of Jihoon, stopping in front of him with that bright grin of his again. 

"If Jisoo won't tell me, maybe you can," he was starting to say, just as Jihoon began to walk past him. 

He patted Jeonghan's shoulder and snickered, "good luck, you'll need it." 

"Wait, I have questions," Jeonghan grabbed Jihoon's arm before he could leave and dragged him back in place, earning muttered complaints about how there was _no way he was going to win_ anyway, which was ignored. “Just a few basics then, I won’t ask who she is outright.” 

“Why don’t you ask Jisoo?”

“He won’t answer,” Jeonghan said, turning towards Jisoo with a dramatic look of betrayal on his face, which only succeeded in making Jisoo laugh. The latter had been planning on answering some stuff eventually, but if Jeonghan insisted on being cute, then he’ll let the other boy be. As long as he ignored Jihoon’s judging stare, he’ll be fine. “I just want to make sure his girl has no idea he likes her, since that would be cheating.

At that, Jihoon laughed. 

He laughed quite a lot, actually, while Jeonghan just offered him a confused stare. 

Jisoo nudged him out of it; while he was glad Jihoon found the whole thing amusing, he also worried a bit that Jeonghan would find out far too early for his liking. He was going to take his time with this bet. It took the blond a few more seconds to compose himself, since one look at Jeonghan’s face would cause him to laugh some more. After what felt like the longest laugh of his life, Jihoon once again patted Jeonghan’s shoulder as a gesture of good luck, still chuckling as he tried to walk past the boy. Jeonghan allowed him, but only because he was distracted by what the other said.

“Trust me, this guy is about as dense as a brick. He has no clue. Have fun.” 

There was a moment of pause, before Jeonghan turned to Jisoo with a small pout.

“Your mystery girl was a… mystery guy?” He asked tentatively. When Jisoo nodded in response, he continued. “Why didn’t you say so? I was here talking about a girl and— Jihoon was laughing at me about it and— he knew and I felt _so_ out of the loop, man—“

Jisoo chuckled, “calm down, Jeonghan. I would have told you if you asked, but you just sort of assumed it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Jeonghan admitted sheepishly.

There was another awkward moment of silence. Jisoo could see that Jeonghan was processing things in his head, could see him thinking to himself and probably trying to assess the situation. He chose to keep quiet in favour of letting Jeonghan dwell on it further, unsure whether or not he should comment or anything, either. It was probably another big shocker to his best friend. Even Jisoo himself was beginning to wonder how was it Jeonghan didn’t know. Maybe he just forgot? The Seungcheol thing was definitely known by all members—

“It’s nothing weird,” the other boy finally commented, causing Jisoo to snap out of his thoughts as well. “Incase you’re wondering. I’m not judging you for it. Remember when I dated Seungcheol? I thought things would work out between us.”

Jisoo smiled thoughtfully, “yeah, I thought things would work out between me and Seungcheol, too.” 

“What?” Jeonghan exclaimed, wide eyed. “You dated… Oh. Oh, right, now I remember.”

His expression became unreadable, but Jisoo decided it was best not to pry. So he did forget, after all. Classic Jeonghan; he always did have a way with easily forgetting things. It took another few moments of silence before Jeonghan visibly perked up, a smug smile appearing on his face. He sidled next to Jisoo, throwing a casual arm around his shoulder and peering in teasingly.

“Tell me more about him?” he asked sweetly, making Jisoo laugh. 

He hummed in thought, thinking of the best way to reply, “I don’t really know where to begin. He’s a singer, too, like we are. Great voice. Lovely to listen to.”

“Can’t be better than yours,” Jeonghan said without missing a beat, and the other boy briefly paused at the sincerity in his voice. They would often squabble about telling each other how talented the other was, so this time Jisoo just smiled at the comment instead of insisting Jeonghan was better, like he normally would have done.

“He’s easy on the eyes, too. Definitely good looking, and I think a part of him knows it.”

“So he’s a vocal and a visual? What a classic fangirl type, Shua,” Jeonghan teased, but the arm around Jisoo's shoulder tensed for a moment. "Next you're going to tell me he has the personality of an angel, too?”

Oh, sweet irony.

Jisoo laughed, for reasons the other boy clearly doesn’t know, “he is quite nice, if that helps. I doubt you would have pegged me for the type who was into bad boys, Jeonghan.”

“Of course not,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Only the best and sweetest for you, Jisoo, birds of a feather flock together and all that.”

“He’s a bit mischievous though, if I have to be honest. That’s what makes him fun,” Jisoo replied, pausing to smile, but not without noticing the way Jeonghan’s arm tensed around him again. “He makes even me come out of my shell when I’m with him.” 

At that, Jeonghan didn’t have a snappy comeback ready anymore. His eyebrows visibly furrowed, showing a sort of frustration that Jisoo could only wish was a sign that he was troubled about who the guy was. As far as Jisoo knew, Jeonghan was the one who liked being the reason he broke out of his comfort zone and takes great pride at how crazy Jisoo can get around him. Especially in their trainee days, before the whole group grew more comfortable around each other. 

“Jeonghan?” Jisoo asked, “you still with me?”

“Of course,” the other boy replied a bit too quickly, though his face still looked like he was calculating something. As if nothing happened, he flashed a bright grin at Jisoo. “Thanks for the information.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Jisoo asked innocently, although he already had a small clue as to what his friend was planning. Jeonghan was, after all, desperate to find out who the guy was, right? He would try and win the bet. He’s never been the type to back down from a challenge. Sure enough, the grin on his face just widened as he replied.

“You’ll see.”

Jisoo hid a smile. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Jeonghan had everything planned out. They had a full schedule up ahead— practice, rehearsals, a full show, then some more practice— and he was going to be with Jisoo during _every single one_. He had originally thought of bringing a notebook and pen wherever he went, but soon realized that would make things far too obvious. Also, the notebook could fall into the wrong hands (read: Jisoo’s) and he wouldn’t want that. Shoving the old fashioned way out of his head and not quite trusting his own memory, he decided to list things down on his phone instead.

List what down, exactly?

All the males Jisoo would interact with. That right, Jeonghan was going to make a complete list and take note of the qualities Jisoo told him specifically until he narrowed down who the mystery male could be. When he’s finally sure, a little meddling should help his win the bet. It’s not like he was going to prevent Jisoo from dating whoever the guy was— no, of course he knew his friend wouldn’t be happy with that idea— but maybe just make Jisoo take longer than a month. He wasn’t scared Jisoo was going to win, either, he just wanted to make sure.

Yeah. That was it. He just wanted to make sure.

“Besides,” Jeonghan muttered to himself as he fixed up his training bag. “What if the guy isn’t good enough for him? Maybe I can do something about it too. That can’t be a bad idea.”

A few moments later, he gleefully bounded across the hallway towards Jisoo’s room, ready to latch himself on as much as possible.

“Good morning, Hong Jisoo!” He greeted, entering the room with a cheerful smile. “And company.”

“Thanks,” Seungkwan replied back dryly.

Jisoo smiled, the kind of smile he reserved for whenever Jeonghan was up to his sneaky antics again, but was too amused by it to tell him off. The older boy laughed in response, only to sober up when he realized he was with Jisoo and two other _male_ figures. Based on what the other boy said yesterday, his mystery man was definitely an idol. While the vocal position may be iffy, he did say something about having a great voice. That part was sure. Everything else may be subjective.

And, well.

Seokmin and Seungkwan. 

“What brings you here, Jeonghan?” Jisoo asked as said boy made a mental note to add the two vocal line members to his list, just to be sure. Maybe he should add all the Seventeen members at this rate.

“I just wanted to head to practice with my best friends,” came the smooth reply. 

Seokmin snorted from the side, “that sounds weird already. Jisoo, what’s wrong with him?”

The pink haired boy just shrugged, watching Jeonghan with that small, amused smile still playing on his lips. He went back to fixing his own training bag, matching the pace of the two younger ones with him. Once Jisoo was thoroughly distracted again, Jeonghan sat on one of the beds— not Jisoo’s he couldn’t risk it— and whipped his phone out, hoping it would seem as if he was just idly playing games on his phone. As quickly as possible, he jotted down his notes.

First, Seokmin. Vocals? Big check, high check, definitely there. Visuals? Check, who isn’t, really? Very nice and definitely mischievous, especially when paired with Soonyoung. Around Jisoo though? Jeonghan made a mental note to notice things further.

Boo Seungkwan; saying he has no vocals would be a sin. Also his mom would come after Jeonghan personally if he said no for the visuals part. Nice, but definitely sassy, if that’s Jisoo’s idea of fun. Seungkwan can get anybody to come out of their shell, that’s for sure— Jeonghan’s mind flitted to Jisoo’s plastic bottle antic in One Fine Day. There’s a large age gap though, if Jisoo’s mindful of that. 

Jeonghan paused. Was Jisoo mindful of that? 

“Ready when you’re done with the games, Jeonghan,” Seungkwan said, standing pointedly by the door with the other two boys. 

“Coming!”

/

Now that Jeonghan was actually paying attention, it wasn’t hard to miss out on who Jisoo interacts with a lot. It also frustrated him to no end because as far as he saw it, everybody could be linked to Jisoo, and everybody could fall under such generic traits. Seventeen alone had 10 other guys to take note of, excluding himself and Jihoon. Maybe he needed to weasel more information out of his friend, certain specifics like whether the mystery man was younger or not, height, weight, ethnicity, anything.

Anything that could quell how uneasy he felt whenever he’d watch Mingyu do the ear-covering part of Boomboom a bit too close for comfort; or when Junhui would cling on Jisoo’s back whenever they took a break (that boy never did know the meaning of personal space); but for some reason, it was how Seungcheol would pat Jisoo on the shoulder every now and then, grinning and saying he did a good job, that really got to Jeonghan.

It can’t be Seungcheol, though, right? He should be aware that Jisoo’s interested, what with the shared history and all. Which means he can’t be the person, since that was one of the rules.

Feeling a little better at that, Jeonghan doesn’t include the leader’s name on his list.

Everybody’s still pretty generic when it came to fitting Jisoo’s descriptions, though, so he sought to add some unique traits instead. He added everybody else from the Hip Hop Team, making a small note about how Wonwoo’s practicing his vocals a lot more lately, so much that he counts as good vocals now, too. Hansol’s definitely someone whom Jisoo’s comfortable around, despite the age gap. He was also stunning in his own right. Mingyu’s basically Mr. Perfect, too. He can cook well, if Jisoo saw that as a plus.

Moving on to the Performance Team, things were kinda easier to place. Junhui was a sure contender for top ranks; a visual even Jeonghan would bow down to with a rather nice, soft voice. A bit on the eccentric side, if anything. Soonyoung had everything else down, too. Jeonghan sometimes forgot he sang really well. Minghao was significantly more reserved, but had a tongue sharper than any of the others, which always brought out great laughs. Ever since his Korean has been improving, he’s been hanging out more with the others. More with Jisoo. 

Chan? Chan was _his baby_ , and Jisoo would have to go through Jeonghan first before he could  even think about dating the group’s youngest. 

“You’ve been on your phone a lot today, Jeonghan.”

Jeonghan quickly closed his phone, turning around to see Mingyu eyeing him with a teasing grin. With his giant height, he could have seen everything. Was he peeking over Jeonghan’s shoulder this whole time? Did he see anything that merited such a cheeky look on his face? The older boy was a bit close to panicking before Mingyu laughed, nudging his side.

“Dating someone again? Who is she?”

Oh. He can deal with that.

“None of your business,” Jeonghan said, body relaxing as he offered Mingyu a sly grin of his own.

“Wow, that’s a first,” Mingyu said with an exaggerated gasp of surprise. “You usually love to tell everybody about your dating endeavours.” 

Jeonghan chuckled, “there’s nothing to say. Honest. Just scrolling through some stuff.”

“Well, you’d want to stop scrolling and hit the showers,” came another voice. Jisoo appeared in Jeonghan’s line of sight soon enough, wiping at his forehead with a small towel. He handed Jeonghan his own towel which the latter accepted with a word of thanks, briefly wondering how Jisoo always knew which towel was his. “We only have a bit of time to prepare before we need to go to the salon.”

“We’re going to sweat once we reach Music Bank again anyway,” Jeonghan pointed out.

Jisoo laughed, “true, but I wouldn’t want to sit in the car next to a sweaty Yoon Jeonghan.” 

“Mean,” the boy pouted back in response, but was already heading towards the bathrooms. Mingyu looked back and forth between the two older members and shook his head, muttering something under his breath that Jeonghan didn’t quite catch as they all headed in the same direction. 

/

Music Bank meant more artists that Jisoo could interact with. More names to add to his list. He should be pretty happy about that, but Jeonghan was ultimately feeling a bit stuffy at the idea that he’d have to watch Jisoo be surrounded by so many people. It was purely because writing down the names was proving to be a more tedious task than he’d expected, of course. Too much work for him.

“Good job on stage, guys!” A cheerful voice said from the sides, as MONSTA-X’s Minhyuk came walking over, along with the rest of the group. 

For a split second, Jeonghan had expected Minhyuk to head over to him— they were the closest between the two groups, right?— but was surprised to see that Minhyuk had stopped at Jisoo instead, giving the boy a brief hug before chatting animatedly with him. Had this always happened? Was this yet another thing Jeonghan usually blissfully ignored? Maybe. Shaking himself out of the sudden surprise, Jeonghan walked over to the two himself.

“Jeonghan!” Minhyuk greeted cheerfully, offering him a hug of his own. “Your part of the song is my favourite."

Jeonghan laughed just as Jisoo argued playfully that Minhyuk had just told him the same thing.

“What can I say, I’m Seventeen’s biggest fan,” the blonde said, grinning, throwing an arm around Jisoo’s shoulder as he said so. It took a few seconds before the scene registered in Jeonghan’s mind; the way Jisoo glanced at the Minhyuk before smiling, shy and happy at the same time. Could it be Minhyuk? He sang well despite having little lines, but it was enough to say that his voice was good. 

Minhyuk flashed a bright smile.  
     
Definitely a visual, too.

Soon after, a bunch of other artists would crowd around Seventeen. Greetings and other pleasantries would be exchanged. Normally, Jeonghan would have flitted around the crowd, said hi to familiar faces and maybe even make new ones. That night however, he planted himself firmly beside Jisoo, going where the pink haired boy went and talking to whoever he did, too. If Jisoo noticed, he didn’t say anything. If anybody else noticed, they didn’t say anything either, although Jeonghan did notice some staring here and there. 

“Hey, Jisoo!” 

 Jeonghan had lost count of the people Jisoo had talked to. He thought about the growing list in his head and inwardly groaned. 

Maybe this was harder than he expected. 


	4. Chapter 4

A week into the bet and Jisoo had to admit: it was pretty nice having Jeonghan following him wherever he went. He hadn’t expected the other boy to take things _that_ seriously and actually cling onto him, trying to figure out who the guy he liked was by apparently always being present; it was still, ultimately, not that bad though. Of course it wouldn’t be, he’s got the guy he liked perpetually close to him, why should he complain?

Jeonghan was around him so much that Jisoo was beginning to wonder what the brunette actually had up his sleeve. What was he planning? He had expected something small, like just pestering Jisoo to no end, but Jeonghan was actually being sneaky about this. He was definitely taking into account all the guys around Jisoo— even the other members of Seventeen— and was into it so much that the boys were all beginning to give them odd looks, too. Seeing the two of them together wasn’t weird, seeing as how they were best friends within the group, and all.

But, well, Jeonghan…

Just didn’t want to leave. Like, _ever_. He was focused on being next to Jisoo so much that he had gotten scolded for it by their manager and even by Jihoon (despite the knowing look Jihoon gave Jisoo, sure) for always being around even when he shouldn’t be. The members had certain rotations for training— vocal, dance, and what not. Jisoo in particular had Korean classes with Junhui and Minghao, which Jeonghan definitely didn’t need but there he was anyway.

“Yoon Jeonghan, what are you doing here _again_?” 

The teacher eyed him with a look of determination; Jeonghan always managed to sweet talk his way into sitting in, but this time Mrs. Park was allowing no excuses. He must have felt it, because Jeonghan gulped and was trying to throw around reasons here and there (“I’ve forgotten some  Korean words.” “I also kinda learn English and Chinese here, right?” “I’m actually not Korean— okay, no, I am, but _wait_ hear me out—“) and while it was amusing at the beginning, Jisoo was beginning to feel sorry for him.

“Mrs. Park,” Jisoo began to say, as sweetly as he can. “Jeonghan usually helps me remember the lessons. He could go over things with me more than I can with the others.”

Across the table, Junhui and Minghao nodded as a sort of back-up; even though they had been sneakily whispering to each other in Mandarin when they saw Jeonghan enter the room with Jisoo for the third time that week. At least they were on his side, Jisoo figured, which was a good thing because Mrs. Park gave Jeonghan— who was currently grinning and nodding furiously to what Jisoo had just said— one last look before sighing in defeat.

“Just don’t make too much noise, please.”

“Of course,” Jeonghan said with a quick, easy grin, settling down next to Jisoo. Once seated and once the teacher had her back turned towards them, he muttered a quick word of thanks to Jisoo, who could only chuckle in response. He was surprisingly tame this lesson too, only managing to disrupt the class twice. After the lesson, Junhui and Minghao had rushed on to train with the rest of the Performance Team while Jisoo took his time to gather his things. Jeonghan continued to wait patiently next to him.

Jisoo glanced at his friend, “so really, Jeonghan, why are you here?”

“I do help you outside of class, don’t I?”

“Yes, but you usually hate lessons. You escape from the English classes. Doesn’t this bore you?”

“Not really. You’re here.”

“Sure,” Jisoo said, biting back a smile. 

“What about you?” Jeonghan asked, suddenly looking nervous and just a tad bit guilty as he stared at Jisoo. “Does it bother you that I’m always around?”

“Of course not,” he replied back sincerely. “It’s always fun with you around, Jeonghan.”

The other boy seemed to have been pleased with Jisoo ending it at that, because he walked out the room soon after, glancing back just for a second to make sure the pink haired boy was still behind him. Said boy jogged a bit to catch up, and when they were finally walking side by side, allowed Jeonghan to loop an arm around his shoulder. 

Yeah, things were definitely fine.

/

“So,” Soonyoung was beginning to say, sidling up next to Jeonghan, who was in turn next to Jisoo on one of the living room couches. The latter had been there first, of course, working on some lyrics when Jeonghan had invited himself over and kind of just sat there in silence, fiddling with his phone. Jisoo was in the process of ignoring both of them and whatever they were going to talking about, but Soonyoung’s next words caught his attention.

“This friend of a friend of a friend of mine knows this girl,” the sharp-eyed boy said with a mischievous grin, nudging Jeonghan’s side already. “My friend says she’s _totally_ into you and would love to get to know you better. She’s this one idol’s cousin so, like, she totally gets the whole idol thing, too. What do you say?”

“Sorry, what was that?” Jeonghan said, not looking away from the new game he got on his phone.

Soonyoung rolled his eyes, “let me repeat that, then. New girl for you to date. We’ve all noticed a severe lack of your  dating presence around the dorm and in our group chat. She said she wants to add you up and—“

“Nah.”

“Wait, what?”

Even Jisoo had paused his current typing to subtly glance next to him. Soonyoung was staring at Jeonghan, shock clear on his face, while the older member continued to tap on his phone as if oblivious, muttering under his breath about fiends and slugs. Soonyoung blinked a few more times before laughing out loud, patting Jeonghan’s shoulder while he was at it.  
  
“Good joke,” he said, grinning. 

Jisoo glanced back to his laptop; of course it was a joke.

“I’m not kidding,” Jeonghan said, causing Jisoo to turn his head way too fast and definitely not at all subtle. The other boy continued, not looking away from his phone, “it gets tiring once in a while. I’m on a break, I have better things to do, just tell her sorry.”

“Heartbreaker Yoon, at it again,” Soonyoung said after a moment of pause. He glanced at Jisoo, eyes twinkling in a sort of mischief he was more than prone to having. “Must be Shua’s good influence.”

Jeonghan actually snickered at that, eyes flicking towards Jisoo’s still surprised face for a second before focusing on his phone once more, “ _sure_ , you can call it that.”

Jisoo rolled his eyes at the blatant teasing when it came to dating; the other boy must still think not getting dates is a quality Jisoo possessed. Soonyoung had sighed, loudly exclaiming that he felt sorry for the girl as he stood up from the couch. Before he fully left the living room, though, Jisoo was almost sure he heard him mumble something about a bet. Speaking of, at this rate, Jisoo was pretty optimistic about things.

/

Still, things needed just a little bit more of a push, which came to the pink haired boy as a surprise when the group was rounded up for late night practice again. 

“Jisoo, I’m so tired, get Seungcheol to stop,” Junhui whined, draping himself across the elder’s back with his arms around his neck and tangled loosely in front of him. He was sweaty— they all were, at this point— but Jisoo never did complain about Junhui’s habit of sticking onto people whenever he desired. The Chinese member sighed dramatically, “my body is breaking. I’m too young for this.”

“If your young, performing body is breaking, how about mine, huh?” Seungcheol said, popping up beside them as he wiped at his forehead. “It’s not my fault. It’s the tiny boy’s fault we're still practicing.”

Jisoo laughed, “don't let Jihoon hear you, Cheol.”

“Personally I think Soonyoung is to blame,” came another tired voice. Jisoo glanced at the same time the weight on his back was lifted, which meant the one who spoke must have been Minghao; it was, and Junhui had went and latched himself onto the younger member instead.  Cute. Now that Jisoo’s shoulder was free, it seemed the prime place for Seungcheol to rest his head on instead.

It was there for approximately 4 seconds before Jisoo felt a sharp tug on his arm.

“Let’s go, Soonyoung’s calling for us to start again,” Jeonghan said, fingers wrapped around Jisoo’s wrist as he pulled. His eyes didn’t meet Jisoo’s as he spoke, focused on some far off distance where he was planning on pulling them towards, probably. The force of his pull was enough to dislodge Seungcheol’s head from his shoulder though, who whined softly at the lost but soon went off to find another member to lean on.

Jisoo allowed himself to be pulled to a certain distance before commenting, “I didn’t hear Soonyoung at all, Jeonghan.” 

Jeonghan stopped in his tracks, turning back towards Jisoo. He seemed to process the whole situation and let go of Jisoo’s wrist a bit too quickly, cheeks flushed in a way that made Jisoo wonder whether it was because of their heavy choreography or something else. Before he could explain himself, there was a loud clapping that echoed in the practice room; Soonyoung’s usual signal for practice to start again.

“There. I must be psychic,” Jeonghan said with a grin that was playful enough to hide his earlier nervousness. 

Jisoo found himself smiling back, but probably not for the same reason Jeonghan was thinking of. He nodded nonetheless, eventually allowing the boy to pull him into place, catching Jihoon’s eye as they passed by him. Jihoon promptly rolled his eyes at them. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Jihoon, I need help.”

“I’m not touching that list of yours, Jeonghan.”

“What why— I mean, I have no idea what you mean.”

Jihoon gave him a look.

“Okay, fine, I won’t ask anything too specific though. Just help, please?”

Jeonghan gave his best impression of a kicked puppy as he stared at the blonde. He only had two weeks to go before the end of the bet; Two full weeks had come and gone and he still felt like he wasn’t anywhere near figuring out who Jisoo’s guy was. They’ve had way too many interactions with other groups, shows, and group practices among other things. The list in his phone just grew and along with it, a weird feeling of dread and something else he couldn’t quite place creeping up his chest.

It was the losing part.

He just didn’t want to lose the bet.

“Honestly,” Jihoon sighed, looking away from the computer screen to stare disapprovingly at Jeonghan. He never did like being bothered when he was working on a new song, but Jeonghan couldn’t think of anybody else he could go to for help. Jisoo definitely won’t say anything. As for the other members, well, Jeonghan figured he liked it better if they didn’t know as well. It was just among them, anyway. “What’s gotten you so worked up?”

Jeonghan blinked, “what do you mean?”

“Nevermind. Fine. What help do you need?” Jihoon said, removing the headphones from around his neck and whirling around to face Jeonghan. 

“The mystery guy,” Jeonghan began to say, aiming to make it sound like he was up to something sly and sneaky, but was surprised when it came out a bit unsure. He had a point with this question, really. He was going to ask Jihoon for information, stuff like the guy’s age and maybe even his band. Some other details like how he interacts with Jisoo, whether Jihoon would say it was an obvious thing, if it was cheesy. Instead, he opens his mouth and asks something else, as if on impulse. 

“Is he good for Jisoo?”

Jihoon stared at him, face softening just a little, “what do you mean?”

“Uhm, I,” Jeonghan stammered, caught off-guard because what _did_ he mean? He just wanted to know who the guy was. It wasn’t like he was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the idea of Jisoo dating someone, especially someone he didn’t know. He may have been just a bit protective since Jisoo is his best friend. Yeah, that was it.  Still, they were adults, after all, Jisoo was perfectly free to date whoever he wanted. Jeonghan did, right? 

So why, just _why_ did it bother him?

Jihoon was giving him a look that meant he should probably continue what he was going to say and quit wasting the other boy’s time. Either that or a look that meant he actually knew what Jeonghan was thinking about and held all the answers in his head that could help the situation, but refused to say anything about it anyway. Maybe the first option was the better one. Jeonghan wasn’t sure.

“I’m just wondering,” he finally got himself to say, hands gesturing in the air with no real purpose. “If they match, work well together, something like that. Jisoo’s one of my best friends, I’m just…”

He paused for a moment to offer Jihoon a shrug, “looking out for him?”

“Do you have any idea who the guy could be?”

“I still have no idea who he is,” Jeonghan admitted with a small frown, thinking back to the list and the minimal facts he had. “Do they even hang out?”

Jihoon snorted, “they do. Looks like that’s another thing you don’t know about Jisoo.”

Jeonghan’s frown deepened to the point that his eyebrows furrowed in thought, momentarily thinking back to all the moments he spent with Jisoo and trying to remember who he interacted with a lot more, itching to bring out his phone just to make sure. Instead, he sighed, ignoring the uneasy feeling and Jihoon’s smug little smirk. 

“Yeah, I guess so,” he admitted to himself, the annoyed feeling turning into one that held just a small tinge of guilt for how little he actually knew about his best friend. Well, he knew a lot, definitely more than some of the other members but such private details were something he didn’t really bother asking about. Jisoo was there for him during all his toils and troubles, never complaining when Jeonghan would whine about dating, yet also never sharing his own. 

If anything, Jeonghan felt like he needed to know Jisoo even more.

“Also,” Jihoon started to say, breaking Jeonghan’s thoughts as he once again focused on the younger boy, whose next few words didn’t make him feel any better. 

“Yeah. He’s definitely good for Jisoo.”

/

Jeonghan wasn't sure how long he had been standing in front of Jisoo's door. He was still in the process of trying to think of some sort of excuse to stay with him, when the door opened to reveal the said pink haired boy. The latter didn't even wait for Jeonghan to open his mouth before he opened the door wider and ushered him inside as if it was the most normal thing to do. Did Jisoo know he’s been standing there this whole time?

"What's up?" Jisoo asked once Jeonghan was settled on his bed, sitting down beside him. 

“It’s been two weeks,” Jeonghan started to say casually, lying down on the bundle of pillows and even stealing one from Jisoo’s side, while the latter didn’t complain as usual. “I just wanted to ask you for progress updates.”

“Progress updates?”

Jeonghan shrugged, “yeah, I mean, how has things been? Has the guy noticed you yet? Are things going smoothly? Do you think you’ll win?”

The other boy hummed in thought, thinking a bit too deeply that the long silence made Jeonghan uncomfortable. If Jisoo actually had to go over the events, it must mean there were events and things to share. It was probably during the moments where Jeonghan wasn’t with him, like some of the practice sessions or maybe during music shows. Jisoo sometimes wandered off or got dragged by some of the other groups. Even the other members of Seventeen. He knew he should have followed even if he wasn’t done with his hair. It would have been worth it.

Finally, Jisoo spoke.

“It’s been okay,” he said slowly, glancing at Jeonghan with a small smile. “I think he’s been noticing me more. The signs have been good. I’m definitely winning.”

The cocky attitude made Jeonghan even more uncomfortable, but he tried his best to cover up by scoffing at what Jisoo said.

“Easy, Hong Jisoo,” he said, rolling his eyes for effect. “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.”

Jisoo chuckled, “why not, Yoon Jeonghan? Are you scared?” 

Jeonghan chose not to answer. He didn’t really have an answer to begin with anyway. Anybody could see that Jisoo was a golden gem to obtain and would have to be pretty dumb not to be interested in him. He wasn’t sure how the latter was trying to win over the object of his affection, but if he was doing something then surely there would be a result. As they lay there, side by side on Jisoo’s bed, Jeonghan was beginning to think that maybe he was a tiny bit scared. He didn’t want to lose his best friend, if anything. He quite liked the attention Jisoo gave to him.

There was another odd silence before Jeonghan piped up.

“Is it Hansol?”

“ _Vernon?_ ” Jisoo asked incredulously, facing the boy next to him. “Okay, I know I said I won’t give any hints, but for this one I have to say no. I love Hansol and things are comfortable with him because of the English and all, but he’s always been like a little brother.”

Jeonghan’s only slightly relieved to hear that. He also mentally crosses out Seungkwan off the list since they were the same age. 

“Junhui, then?”

“Seriously, Jeonghan?”

“You’re not saying no,” Jeonghan said pointedly.

“I said no hints, that one about Hansol was the last one.”

“So Junhui then.”

Jisoo hummed, “what made you say that?”

“He’s been clinging on to you a lot more and you never push him away,” Jeonghan said with a small frown. He caught himself quickly and wiped the frown off his face, continuing with his observations some more. “He’s always been touchy, sure, but to you it’s increased dramatically within the week. Have you always been okay with it? Not that I was taking note or anything, I just… noticed… in passing…”

The amused look Jisoo was currently giving him made him shut up. 

“I hope that list of yours isn’t taking up too much space on your phone.”

Jeonghan flushed in embarrassment that he was being so obvious; to cover up his current predicament, he quickly got a pillow from underneath him and began to hit Jisoo with it, smothering the laughing boy who barely fought back. The brunette continued to hit softly, grinning at how defenceless the other boy was before leaving the pillow on top of him and following soon after. 

Jisoo groaned from underneath him. 

“You’re mean, Shua,” Jeonghan said cheekily, peeking from over the top of the pillow to find himself face to face with Jisoo.

“And you’re heavy.”

Jisoo was still groaning, but his lips were also curved in a smile, a remnant of how they were laughing just a few seconds before. His eyes were the half-moons he always wore when he laughed or smiled, soft and gentle as they looked up at him. He always looked good, that was a fact in itself that he was one of Seventeen’s top visuals; however right here, right now, currently still half-gasping for air after the small pillow fight (if it could be considered a fight, seeing how Jisoo didn’t exactly fight back), Jeonghan had to admit.

He was more than breathtaking.

The thought caught him off-guard as he scrambled to get off his friend, cheeks still flushed but less out of embarrassment and more of due to his current thought process. Jisoo watched him with a curious expression as Jeonghan threw excuses here and there about hearing somebody call him from the living room, how it was his turn to pick dinner up, and some more things he spilled from out of his head that probably didn’t make sense anymore. 

Jeonghan didn’t look back as he fled from the room with a small wave of good bye, mentally cursing himself for being so awkward and wondering if Jisoo noticed and if the other boy was going to find him weird for it. Hopefully not. Maybe by later or tomorrow they could pretend it never happened. Maybe. 

(If he looked back, he would have seen how Jisoo’s face currently matched his pink hair and the beautiful smile that came with it.)


	6. Chapter 6

The day after the whole fiasco with Jeonghan getting flustered and leaving the room, Jisoo found himself without the boy’s presence for once. He wasn’t sure if he was glad or worried about the fact; a little space to breathe and be alone wasn’t so bad, but the lack of Jeonghan’s nosy self could also mean he wasn’t interested in the bet anymore. That would have led to a very bad turn of events on his side. He might not even win if that were the case. Still, he was fairly positive that things were going smoothly, if yesterday was anything to judge by. 

The other boy had blushed, that much was clear. 

His reactions were okay, but whether or not his thought process followed suit is the question. Jeonghan could always just dismiss what he felt and not dwell on it further, choosing to ignore the situation at hand instead; he could even be too blinded by the bet and his will to win to focus on anything else. Hopefully that wasn’t the case.

“Hey, Josh,” a voice came from the doorway, interrupting Jisoo’s musings for a while. Hansol’s head peeked through, silently asking for permission to join the older boy in the studio room. 

Jisoo motioned for him to come inside, “what’s up? Do you need to use the room?”

“No, I came here looking for you actually,” Hansol said as he entered, looking around the room with a surprised expression on his face that made Jisoo wonder. His curiosity doubled (but at the same time, got at least one of his questions answered) when Hansol followed up his statement with the question, “Jeonghan’s not here with you?”

When the older boy shook his head, Hansol visibly relaxed, which made Jisoo pause to think— did they fight or anything? Was there something he wasn’t updated on? Where was Jeonghan anyway? When he voiced out a few of his questions— leaving out only the last one, the other boy took a seat next to him, regarding him with a rather serious look.

“We’re good friends, right? You could tell me anything,” the younger boy began to say. 

Jisoo gave him a look, “yeah, I know, dude. What’s going on though?”

“Well, Seungkwan heard from Seokmin who heard from Soonyoung who heard from Junhui and Minghao that you and Jeonghan were a thing now. It’s just that you guys weren’t telling any of us— which is cool, we get the privacy thing— but also you know we won’t mind at all. Seungcheol’s been whining about being left out, though. Most of us kind of saw it coming, too, but—“

“We’re not dating,” Jisoo said, biting back a laugh when Hansol stopped talking to stare at him with an expression that said he must be lying. “No, really, we’re not.” 

“Don’t you like him?”

The pink haired boy nodded, remembering what he told Hansol since a few years back; he didn’t mean to expose himself to the younger boy, at first, but Hansol had managed to bribe it out of him with burgers and fries. Who was he to say no to the sweet temptation of burgers and fries? Hansol was more surprised than Jihoon was— if the latter was surprised at all— thankfully (at least that meant he wasn’t completely obvious).

“You’re really not together?” Hansol asked again, expression still doubtful.

The older boy sighed, “as much as I would like to say that I’m kidding, I’m really not. He’s only been around me because of a bet.”

“A bet?”

Jisoo contemplated telling him everything for a few seconds before realizing this was Hansol he was talking about. It’s not like he has anybody else he could tell it to except for Seungkwan— that was probably the only problem, but Jisoo figured that with only less than two weeks to go, he can risk it being exposed to the younger member and then eventually to the rest of the group. Maybe. Maybe not. He asked Hansol to make sure not to mention a word to anybody except Jihoon and when the younger boy nodded, began to explain.

He added in even recent events and happenings and basically everything he’s been doing to try and subtly get Jeonghan’s attention. Hansol took in every bit of information with a mix of surprise, amusement, and genuine awe at how things were going. It was a slow path and it’s not even sure if Jisoo was going to win in the end just yet, but he admired the older boy for his constant patience and dedication to Jeonghan. Even if it was still weird how they both dated Seungcheol. 

“You’re sure about this, aren’t you?” Hansol asked. When Jisoo just nodded, he continued with a follow up question, “so why the bet? Why didn’t you just straight up ask him out?”

“I guess it’s kind of a safer plan, this way,” Jisoo answered, although he was considering the question for the first time as well and was just vocalizing his thoughts. “By the end of the month if he just doesn’t feel the same way, he wouldn’t have to know it was him. Jihoon said he’ll keep quiet. At least with this, I already have a bit of a start getting there. I hope I am making progress, anyway. Plus, it gives him more time to think it through. I want him to be sure about this, because—“

“You’re sure of him,” the younger boy finished for him, nodding in a way that meant he understood what Jisoo was saying. 

Jisoo smiled, “yeah, exactly. If I ask him out of the blue, I know he’ll say yes, just because he’s always been that type. It might not work out if he just agrees on impulse.”

“I get it now,” Hansol said, getting up from his seat beside him and giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Good luck, bro. Everybody already thinks you’re dating, anyway.”

“Thanks. Stop spreading rumours, though, guys c’mon.”

/

Jisoo spent another hour or two in the studio room, surrounded by complete silence and nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company. He went over what he told Hansol over and over again, coming up with new realizations as he did. If Jeonghan does end up feeling the same way for him, or at least develop the same sort of attraction, that was really only the beginning. They could date, but will it work out?

Somehow, he knows it will. 

He can’t be so sure, though; if their total number of failed relationships was anything to go by.

His thoughts were interrupted for the second time that day by the studio room door swinging open again. A head of brown hair popped in, followed by a loud voice saying, “Shua! I found you!”

Jisoo smiled, “hey, Jeonghan. I didn’t realize I was hiding.”

If Jisoo was relieved to see him again, he didn’t show it.

The other boy was apparently back to his usual self, since he wasted no time occupying the seat next to Jisoo and leaning his head on the other boy’s shoulder. He let out a heavy sigh and began to complain about how much of a terror it was recording his part of the new song with  Bumzu and Jihoon this time (which also explained why he was gone) with matching hand gestures and voice imitations as he copied what the two were saying. 

“I know we’re all stressed, but if I had to sing that falsetto note one more time I might as well be singing it forever and nothing else,” Jeonghan ended his story with another dramatic sigh.

Laughing a little, Jisoo began to gently stroke the other’s hair with his free hand, “there, there. Poor angel. At least you know you were given the part because of how nice your voice is.”

“Your voice is better. They could have given it to you.”

“I’m not starting this argument again, Jeonghan.”

“Fine.”

He felt Jeonghan’s body tense up beside him for a few seconds the moment they made contact, but soon it gradually relaxed as Jeonghan leaned his head a little closer to his palm as they began to bicker. Jisoo continued to stroke his hair, stopping only when Jeonghan made a move of sitting up and moving away from his shoulder. There was a small blush on his cheeks again, but nothing like yesterday’s, seeing how it didn’t cause him to run away this time.

Jeonghan suddenly grinned, mischievous as always, as he suddenly spoke up again.

“Have you heard the rumour going around?”

“A rumour?” Jisoo asked, wondering if this was what Hansol had mentioned earlier. “Which one?”

“The one about how people think we’re together— as in, in a relationship. I wonder where they got that idea, right?” Jeonghan continued, laughing a bit too loudly, his thumbs twiddling on his lap. He always played with his thumbs when he was nervous; Jisoo could tell even if the awkward laugh wasn’t a dead giveaway already. “Do you think it’s reached your mystery man yet, though? Do you think I can see if he’s jealous?”

Jisoo chuckled, “maybe. It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“What?”

“The rumour about us,” the pink haired boy said simply, watching Jeonghan’s reaction to see if he showed more than he would tell. Judging by the sudden shocked expression, it was clear he was taken aback by the question, but he recovered from it easily as a smile made its way onto his face.

Jeonghan shook his head, “nah, what’s a little rumour, especially if it might help me in the bet?”

“Of course,” Jisoo replied, rolling his eyes; he was secretly pleased that Jeonghan didn’t mind as much though. Then again, his friend has always been rather carefree with these sort of things. “Because you’re so sure you’ll win.”

“Why did you agree to it, anyway? What would you achieve if you win, a boyfriend?” the brunette suddenly asked, tone a bit more serious now, if not maybe even accusing. Now it was Jisoo’s turn to be taken aback, which must have been obvious because Jeonghan’s eyes widened in panic once he realized what he just asked, and especially the way he asked it. He was about to say something to try and make the situation better, when Jisoo decided to interrupt.

“Not just a boyfriend, I guess,” Jisoo began, pausing to think of a better way to place his words. “A foundation, if you will. I just want to make sure the person I like sees me the same way before getting into anything more serious.”

Jeonghan scoffed, “is that why you’re being subtle and all that? What does that even do?”

“If I just ask the person out, for example, it feels like he’ll have to consciously make an effort to like me back,” the other boy explained, quick to notice that Jeonghan was beginning to look a bit more uncomfortable the more he talked about his mystery man. “However, there are some things I’ve been doing and stuff I’ve been saying that are, well, meant to affect him subconsciously instead. Maybe then, he’ll begin to see me in a different light. It’s all up to him, really. I do hope he’ll like me back.”

“Only an idiot won’t like you back,” Jeonghan said before he could stop himself. 

Jisoo smiled, said a small word of thanks, and wished that was true. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an early update because Seventeen's wins made me happy and also their menpas are killing me rip

Jeonghan wouldn’t say he was getting desperate, but he was definitely getting desperate.

It may have had something to do with his recent realizations about himself. It was nothing big; some stuff about how he wanted to try being blonde for the next comeback if his scalp would allow it, maybe even be the center for the dance if he could somehow ask Soonyoung— though that may include asking the rest of the performance team— and also something about his growing feelings for his best friend, Hong Jisoo. One of those was, admittedly, a lot more serious than the rest.

His scalp was starting to die with all the dye jobs he’s been doing, pun intended.

Bleaching it again would make it so much worse.

Okay, no, it was the Jisoo thing. Since when was there a Jisoo thing? He blamed the bet, of course. Not himself even though he started the bet in the first place, because he did it with the intent to show Jisoo that he was wrong and so that he could win, but that was clearly not happening. The bet must have done something to go against him. That was the only explanation for how Jisoo was apparently making good progress with his mystery guy and how he was suddenly pining for his best friend. 

Never make a bet with Jisoo, Jihoon said. 

He never makes a bet he won’t win, he said.

Oh well.

Jeonghan wasn’t sure when the feelings began. He was positive it wasn’t there before the bet, but the longer he thought about it the more he realized that maybe it was always sorta-kinda there. When news that Seungcheol and Jisoo tried dating, he knew he was told. For some reason, he just willed his mind to forget it. He figured it would be less awkward that way, but was slowly admitting to himself that it wasn’t weird because of Seungcheol— it was odd because of Jisoo, sweet Jisoo with his gentle voice, was now spending more time with someone other than him.

He didn’t like feeling jealous. 

Jealousy does not suit Yoon Jeonghan.

Yet, that was clearly what he was feeling again this time around, except amplified due to how many other guys could possibly be Jisoo’s crush. Even more so since Jisoo was actually doing something about it. He had once wondered if maybe he was the object of the bet— he fit the qualifications, and he was always around Jisoo, too— but then shrugged it off as wishful thinking on his part. He would love to be the object of the bet, of course, but surely if Jisoo was doing that subtlety stuff on him he would notice, right? 

Plus, it’s not like Jisoo’s been acting differently towards him or anything. He still received the same amount of attention and care he always got from the other boy. It’s just his feelings and reactions that was making things difficult and giving him such fantasies in his head. Again, just wishful thinking. Jeonghan can’t exactly confess either, not with his dating reputation and the way Jisoo was already chasing after somebody else. He liked Jisoo, that much was clear, but whether they should date or not?

That was a whole different topic entirely, and a much more serious one at that. 

They had a good friendship. 

Would it change once Jisoo gets in a relationship with someone else though?

Jeonghan groaned, tossing and turning on his bed. He would have been around Jisoo again, but the latter had language classes again and this time the teacher absolutely forbade him from entering the classroom. All this free time led to him drowning in his thoughts instead of taking a nap like he had planned, which was never a good thing. Naps were his lifeblood, after all. He needed more help with the bet. Only one person can provide him that. 

As if the other boy read this thoughts, Jihoon entered their shared room.

“Jihoonie!”

“Whatever it is, Jeonghan, please make it quick.”

Jeonghan sat up on his bed, patting the empty space beside him. Jihoon shuffled over and sat down with a sigh. The older boy was beginning to feel bad about how much he dragged Jihoon around and pestered him with questions, but this time he was going to do something he should have done earlier on. Besides, he knows Jihoon’s schedule today was fairly free compared to other days. He whipped out his phone from somewhere under his pillow and brought out his list for Jihoon to see. The latter wasn’t even surprised.

“I told you before, I’m not telling you anything specific.”

Jeonghan pouted, “nothing specific. Just hints this time, please. I just really want to know before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what, you to do something to ruin Jisoo’s chances in the bet?”

“I wouldn’t do that,” the brunette argued— it’s true, that wasn’t what he meant at all this time around. He actually meant something along the lines of too late for him to do something about his feelings for Jisoo, but Jihoon didn’t need to know that bit. “Just too late for me to win in general, you know. I just really want to figure it out. Help, please?”

Jihoon gave in eventually, grabbing the phone from the other’s hands and going through it silently. He read through the first few names on the list before frowning, “Jeonghan, why did you include everybody in Seventeen?”

“Just to be sure I don’t miss anybody he interacts with.”

“But you included even the ones who are already in a relationship,” the blonde continued, rolling his eyes when Jeonghan’s mouth fell open in shock. “Jisoo’s no home-wrecker. Honestly, sometimes you’re the sharpest there is, but when it comes to other things you’re about as sharp as a cotton swab. If it helps, your list is now shorter.” 

Apparently, Hansol and Seungkwan were a thing, which explained why Jisoo was so surprised to hear Jeonghan mention his name the other day. He hoped it wasn’t obvious that he was secretly relieved to see Jihoon erase Junhui’s name along with Minghao’s. The latter wasn’t that much of a suspect, but images where Junhui has himself draped across Jisoo’s shoulder invaded his thoughts again. He should have known that was normal for Junhui, though. 

“Wow, you even have MONSTA-X on here,” Jihoon commented after getting rid of a few more Seventeen names, deciding to leave a few for Jeonghan to figure out himself. 

“Is it Minhyuk?” the older boy asked with a small pout and a whine to his voice. There was no way he was winning over Minhyuk, if ever. Wait, this was about winning the bet, which meant as long as Jisoo doesn’t get the guy to notice him within the month that should be fine. Since when was this about winning over the mystery guy? Jeonghan willed that thought process out of his head. Dangerous territory.

Jihoon hummed, “they are close. You don’t have a lot on Hyungwon, though.”

“Can you tell me more about him? Is he close to Jisoo?”

“I think he’s closer to Junhui or Soonyoung somewhat,” the younger boy said dismissively, going through the list again. He didn’t delete Hyungwon’s name, though, which didn’t make Jeonghan feel better about it at all.

Jihoon continued to go through the list, snorting every time he came across someone he deemed as “impossible” to be the object of the bet. He actually managed to help quite a lot, seeing how a majority of the list was actually wiped out. It was amazing how much he knew of the other boys, too. Which left Jeonghan with a few choice names to keep note of. Unable to stop himself, the older boy eventually blurted out whether or not he should have added Seungcheol onto the list.

“You don’t kn—“ the blonde began to say, ready to complain about Jeonghan’s lack of knowledge before freezing. He shut his mouth and then shook his head, mumbling something about how that didn’t fit the bet’s criteria. Jeonghan was too relieved— and didn’t even bother to hide it this time— that he didn’t even ask what Jihoon meant by his original statement. The latter was about to hand his phone back to him when the door opened to reveal Jisoo standing there, an amused expression on his face.

“I was wondering where you were, Jihoon. Seungcheol was looking for you,” he said, eyeing the phone in particular. “You weren’t helping Jeonghan with the bet, were you?”

“Nothing obvious, I promise,” Jihoon said with a snicker, handing the phone back to a gaping Jeonghan before making his way out the door. 

Jisoo knew about the list. He knew! Jeonghan was ready to melt into a puddle of shame, but he was also glad that the other boy didn’t seem to mind the list. Now if he could just keep his other motive for having the list— and also his feelings around him— in check, then he shouldn’t have to worry. Casually, he closed his phone, placed it into his pocket, and stood up, stretching a little bit as he asked, “Jisoo, are you free for the day?”

“Yeah,” the other replied with a nod. “Why?”

“Let’s go get milk tea at the store nearby,” Jeonghan said with a grin, already dragging Jisoo’s arm as he walked out of the room. Thankfully, the other boy didn’t complain— not that Jisoo ever complained about anything in particular, but definitely never when it had to do with Jeonghan’s impulsive decisions. He decided that he liked that about Jisoo, too. He should really stop finding things he liked about him.

It’s the bet’s fault that he’s seeing Jisoo differently.

/

 **[2:17PM] Jisoo, to Jihoon:**  
We’re going out for milk tea. Does that count?”

 **[2:21PM] Jihoon, to Jisoo:**  
No, he has to confess. Close, though.

 **[2:23PM] Jisoo, to Jihoon:**  
Fine.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR UPLOADING THIS LATE (╥_╥)  
> I had a bit of a moment where I decided to rewrite and alter the last few chapters of this story, which is why this took a long time.  
> The good news is, this makes the chapter twice as long than what was originally written so I hope this makes up for the wait!   
> The bad news (or, well, it depends how you look at it) is that the fic is also ending by the next chapter (つд｀)  
> I'll write a proper word of thanks and such afterwards, for now, here's the penultimate chapter! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ

It was the final week of the bet.

On some days, Jisoo would even end up forgetting that they had the bet in the first place; he got used to Jeonghan’s permanent place next to his side plus his subtle gestures and when that happened, everything else just felt more natural to him. Like he wasn’t actually trying to sneakily manipulate the way Jeonghan viewed the whole situation or something. Eventually, even Jeonghan stopped taking out his phone whenever Jisoo was talking to somebody else and opted to join in instead, weaseling his way in no matter what.  
  
He’d keep a hand on Jisoo’s shoulder or on his back during such moments, though. He would also stand particularly closer when Jisoo was interacting with any of the other male groups. Jisoo enjoyed that bit quite a lot.

The little rumour that they were actually a couple now managed to find its way out of Seventeen’s circle and around the rest of the KPOP industry. If Jisoo noticed how the other groups would giggle and smile fondly whenever they would see him and Jeonghan together, he didn’t comment about it. If Jeonghan noticed the same, he didn’t say anything either, but there would be a brighter smile on his face sometimes. Besides, if the bet went the way Jisoo wanted, it wouldn’t have to stay just a rumour after all.

Still, he only had one week, and things needed to be amped up. 

He was still sure of his win though, of course, that was much obvious. Further efforts were just a precaution. 

And also, maybe just for a bit of fun.

“I thought you only worked subtly? That was the rule, right?” Hansol asked. He had dropped by Jisoo’s room to ask about the bet, especially since he had accidentally let it slip to Seungkwan and the latter had to know about the details and updates. Seungkwan had talked to Jisoo about it a few times when the older boy couldn’t escape, being in the same room and all, but it didn’t hurt that Hansol was also pretty interested in it, too. Jisoo would tell him more, anyway.

The pink haired boy nodded. He had told Hansol about his recent observations and the conclusion that came with it. 

“I’ll still be subtle.”

“How does one even subtly seduce someone? I don’t think those two go together. You have to be downright obvious to seduce someone, don’t you? They have to know your purpose? I can’t imagine you— no, I won’t even finish that sentence, it’s too weird.”

“It’s not _that_ kind of seducing, Vernon,” Jisoo said, rolling his eyes at the scandalized expression the younger boy wore, pushing at his shoulder lightly to shake him out of whatever his imagination brought him. “Maybe just some suggestive things. Just enough to drive him a little bit over the edge. Besides, for some reason when it comes to this bet, Jeonghan’s a tad more dense. He’s usually sharp about this.”

“It’s probably because his thoughts are clouded by the confusion that his emotions are bringing him, thanks to you, which makes him about as sharp as a baseball bat,” Hansol replied without missing a beat, earning a small chuckle from the other boy who didn’t say anything against it. He eyed the older member with a sort of new found respect. Who knew under that gentle, kind demeanour was someone this conniving? He felt like some kind of evil mastermind at this point. 

He continued when Jisoo didn’t speak up, “plus, Jeonghan wouldn’t suspect you of something like this. Hell, even _I_ wouldn’t have suspected you of doing something like this if I hadn’t heard it  come out of your mouth. Man, why you fronting?”

Jisoo smiled in response.

“Now I’m even more suspicious of your evil mastermind tendencies, Josh.”

“I’m innocent, I swear,” Jisoo finally said, breaking into a a laugh. He still had that mischievous twinkle in his eye that suggested otherwise. Hansol particularly enjoyed when Jisoo was in one of his more playful moods, but he also knew that the older boy was completely and wholeheartedly serious about the whole thing with Jeonghan. Absolutely whipped. Jisoo stood up, offering Hansol a smile as he did so. "I'll be subtle. You can judge."

"What do you mean?" the younger boy asked, following after his regardless.

“Let’s go find Jeonghan.”

/

Jeonghan had honestly, always been really easy to find. It wasn’t hard at all; Jisoo just had to follow the soft sound of a whining voice until it got louder. If he listened close enough, he knew he’ll eventually hear either a disgruntled Jihoon (whom, ever since the bet started, has been receiving most of Jeonghan’s complaints) or maybe even a harassed Chan (this has been happening way before the bet) surrounding said voice. This time, Jisoo looked out for the former, and sure enough landed in the dorm’s living room. 

Jihoon was trying to watch his drama show in peace, but Jeonghan insisted on being sprawled next to him. Hansol had arrived on the scene first, taking up the seat next the main couch where the other two were. Jisoo was bound to sit next to Jeonghan. He needed a good view of what was happening without actually being in the line of fire. As a form of excuse, he even brought his laptop along with him so he could look over some lyrics.

“Hey,” Jisoo greeted, taking note of Jeonghan’s sudden jump to make space for him on the couch.

“Joshuji!”

“I’m leaving,” was all Jihoon said once he saw the two together. He passed by Hansol with a questioning look— or was it a look of warning?— before shaking his head when the latter gave him a small wink.

Remaining clueless on the couch, Jeonghan sniffed, “we were having _so much fun_ , Wooji.”

Which was obviously for purely dramatic reasons, since the brunette didn't make any move to actually make the shorter boy stay and merely watched him disappear into the hallway. Jisoo tried not to laugh when he noticed Jeonghan eye Hansol weirdly, too, as if wondering why he was there or maybe hoping it would be just the two of them. Jisoo agreed in a way, but Hansol did say he wanted to see how Jisoo actually did things. It was only a matter of time before he’d get fed up with the happenings, anyway.

"What have you been doing?" Jisoo asked, casually slipping an arm behind the spot where Jeonghan was seated.

"Jihoonie was catching up to the episodes of Goblin that he's missed and I was quoting what I could remember from the episodes," Jeonghan replied enthusiastically, laughing that carefree laugh of his.

Jisoo chuckled, lightly grazing his hand across the back of Jeonghan's neck as he did so, just quick enough to seem like it was an accident. The reaction he got was as expected— the other boy tensed slightly, breath hitching in a way that showed how he was doing his best to keep him calm and not be obvious. Jeonghan made no move to pull away though, though his cheeks were a nice flush of pink.

The pink haired boy moved his arm away from the back of the couch soon after, letting it rest on his lap instead.

Jeonghan visibly relaxed at that, "what about you? Where have you been?"

"Just in my room," he replied. "I was scrolling through random stuff on the Internet."

"Saw anything interesting?"

"Actually, yeah," Jisoo began to say, grinning. Without saying another word, he reached for Jeonghan's hand that was closest to him, turning it upwards as he did so. From his spot farther away, Hansol stifled a snort, but Jeonghan was too taken aback to hear it, thankfully. His wide eyes focused on the hand that was currently in Jisoo's own. They've held hands before, but that was before everything that has happened the past few weeks, so this change in reaction was yet another good sign.

Jisoo traced a finger on the other boy's palm, mapping out the lines, "apparently, some palms don't have that weird M shaped line on it. I always thought it was a universal thing."

"R-really? Is that s-so?" 

"Yeah," he replied with a nod, not letting go of Jeonghan's hand just yet. "Then again, the Internet could have been lying to me. Palm reading in general is iffy, you know?"

"Right. Yes. I totally agree with you," Jeonghan breathed out, snapping out of his reverie once Jisoo had let go of his hand again. The latter just smiled at him, innocently and void of any ulterior motive that he might have had. To be fair, they were just regular things, after all. He could have done it to any other member and they wouldn't have bat an eye. 

Hansol was evidently done with the entire scene though, getting up to leave the living room just like Jisoo knew he eventually would.

Jeonghan remained in a state where his cheeks were still flushed, though. 

Biting back a smile and planting a worried look on his face instead, Jisoo rested a hand on the other’s forehead, “are you okay? You seem a little out of it.”

The hand travelled down to Jeonghan’s cheek before the other could fully process what was happening.

“Your face feels warm, Jeonghan, are you sick?”

“No!” Jeonghan jumped out of his seat before Jisoo could say anything else, shaking his head profusely. It took a few seconds for him to realize his sudden outburst and the fact that he had stood up. The brunette began to stretch, “I- I mean, I’m fine. It must be the weather and how long I’ve been on that couch. Summer months, you know? Aren’t you particular with the heat, too? It’s been getting really annoying.”

Jisoo nodded, “yeah, it has been pretty warm lately.”

“I’m gonna—“ the other boy began to say, eyes darting around the room. “Get a drink. Ice cold. Want one?”

“I’ll go with you.”

Jeonghan smiled at that, probably still pleased that Jisoo wanted to go with him despite the awkwardness from earlier events. In all honesty, Jisoo found everything to be rather cute and amusing, and just didn’t want to let go of the chance to get Jeonghan riled up even further. It did things to his own heart, as well, which made things all the more pleasant. Maybe he was slightly evil about this. Just maybe.

Jisoo followed behind him, lingering a little when the other boy opened up the fridge.

“We have some grape juice left.”

“I think there’s cola somewhere there, too.”

“I can’t find it,” Jeonghan called out.

“Really?” Jisoo walked over, standing just beside Jeonghan as he tried to peer inside the fridge himself, balancing his arm on the open door in a way that made him look like he was trapping Jeonghan between him.

“Yeah, I—“ the brunette looked back as he spoke, unaware of the close proximity until he ended up mere inches away from Jisoo’s face.

Close.

 _Very_ close.

Which was unplanned by the pink haired boy too, leading to a few moments of awkward eye contact and what was probably dramatic silence. Surprisingly, Jeonghan had snapped out of it first, pushing at Jisoo’s arm in his attempt to get away, mouth opening and closing as if he was trying to figure out what to say, face an even brighter shade of pink than it was earlier. The latter obliged while he was still in a state of shock himself, eventually deciding to apologize and break the weird silence first.

“I should have let you know I was there,” he said sheepishly, scratching at a phantom itch on the back of his head.

“No, it's— it's not your fault, but— Uhm, I have to go, ” Jeonghan said before fleeing the kitchen.

Jisoo watched him leave and sighed, muttering softly to himself, “did that make things worse or…?”  


 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the end.  
> I've always wanted to write something like this and I can finally say I've done it ;A;  
> (Also I managed to finish a story again! Yay progress! And it's a Jihan fic again, woops?)  
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading from beginning to end and has left comments!!! All the comments made my day each time, like seriously ; u ;
> 
> To anybody who is reading this after it's complete: thank you, too! Leave comments! Kudos if you liked it! ♡
> 
> Finally, I present. The end.

Jeonghan’s heart was still pounding wildly in his chest.

It was too much. All of this was too much— the bet, the sudden realizations, the _feelings_. Most of all, Jisoo was too much. Jisoo with his soft pink hair and perfect voice, his brilliant smile and gentle demeanour, all of him; all of him and the heart that belonged to some other guy that the brunette _still_ didn’t know enough about. Why did he have to fall for his best friend, anyway? This whole bet was going to be the end of him, Jeonghan was sure. 

Earlier was a crystal clear example about how he’s losing his control over keeping his feelings in check. The brush against his neck was still okay. He didn’t completely melt at that, at least not obviously, anyway. Jisoo holding his hand wasn’t even a new thing and they’ve held hands like that a lot, but this was the first time it meant something different for Jeonghan. It wasn't even the romantic kind of hand holding, no entertwined fingers at all, but still. He was fine then, right? Even when Jisoo became worried over the flush of his cheeks?

It was the moment in the kitchen that really got to him, though. Their faces were a mere few inches apart. Almost touching, especially their lips. On a normal basis, maybe Jeonghan would have joked around about it; smile and say something witty, jokingly flirt like he would to some of the other members sometimes, but after everything that has happened it was just too much to handle in one afternoon. Jisoo was fine about it, of course, barely flustered. At least he didn't judge Jeonghan's weird reaction. Maybe he did? He reacted so calmly, though. 

"Of course he would, Jeonghan, you're the only one who feels like this anyway," the brunette muttered to himself, a sinking feeling growing in his chest as he tried to shake the thoughts out of his head. 

It was all that stupid bet's fault. 

Then again, it was technically his fault, too. He started the whole thing, after all. He had been the one who barely noticed what his friend was doing and what Jisoo was like. He had jumped to conclusions, opened his big mouth, and was now paying the price for what he did. Maybe fate was just playing a truly cruel trick on him to end up falling for his best friend right as he told Jisoo to go after the man of his dreams. He couldn't help it. Jisoo was just so... Jisoo. In everything he did. Even with how he took the bet. Meanwhile Jeonghan was an idiot for starting all of this. Jisoo had recently mentioned that the mystery guy was definitely confessing him soon, thus making him win the bet. He sounded so sure and so _happy_. 

He didn't want Jisoo to end up with somebody else.

Bet or no bet, could Jeonghan really break his friend's happiness for his own selfish reasons? 

He wanted to be that guy. The one who ended up in a relationship with Jisoo— and not just for a few days or weeks like he usually does, but a long and lasting one. He _could_ be that guy, if it were with Jisoo, he thought. Could he really, though? Jisoo would definitely be that type of person. He had said so himself, after all. He wanted something stable and not just for fun, two things that Jeonghan's past has shown that he wasn't good at. What if it wasn't his fault, though? What if it was because his past relationships weren't with Jisoo? 

Jeonghan groaned in frustration, "this isn't the time to be thinking this. Why does this have to be so hard?"

"Whatever you're dealing with must be terrible since it's been a few minutes and you still haven't noticed me." 

What? 

The brunette looked up and finally noticed two things. One, he had entered a room in his sudden panic and it was _not_ his room. Two, Junhui was smiling at him cheekily from his bed, waving a hand when he finally got Jeonghan's attention. Brilliant. He's in an emotional crisis and it had to be in front of another member. He should have been careful, but Junhui was right. There was something plaguing his mind. Maybe the younger boy could actually help.

"Jeonghan, you can tell me," the Chinese boy said softly, losing that teasing air once he realized that Jeonghan really was in a state of distress. "Is it about Jisoo? Did you guys fight?"

"No! Well, I mean, first of all the rumour you heard— or started— was false. We're not together," the older boy explained, walking over to Junhui's bed and asking the other boy to scoot over so he could have space. "But it is about Jisoo." 

"Can I help?" 

Jeonghan sighed, giving in, "I don't even know where to begin. Long story short, I guess: I like him. He likes someone else. I want us to end up together, but..." 

He trailed off, mind wandering back to his previous thoughts. Beside him, Junhui had a mix of both surprise and concern on his face. The latter was first and foremost surprised to hear that Jeonghan thought Jisoo didn't like him— he had figured that bit out years ago, but apparently not Jeonghan. He had a trained eye for these things. He was almost positive that the vocal didn't have to worry one bit about Jisoo not liking him, but that wasn't his secret to tell. Instead Junhui nodded, silently asking Jeonghan to continue. 

"What if I confess and things just go wrong? What if I'm stealing him from his happiness with that other guy? He might reject me," Jeonghan finally continued, voicing out his concerns. 

"Yoon Jeonghan? Angel and visual and beautiful vocal of the group, get _rejected_?" Junhui asked in fake surprise, managing to get a small chuckle out of the brunette. Pleased, he continued in a bit more serious tone, "In all honestly, Jeonghan, I've known the two of you long enough to know that things will work out. You've been friends for so long. It wouldn't hurt to try; something like this won't ruin the friendship. I thought I was gonna die when I confessed to Haohao, but look at us now."  

Jeonghan shrugged, "yeah, but Jisoo wants something lasting. Something with this foundation thing. You know how I am."

"I know how you are, the whole group knows how you are—" 

The older boy lightly swatted at Junhui's shoulder as the latter giggled, effectively brightening the mood even if it was just a little. Junhui smiled at him, bright and positive as ever as he spoke again. 

"If your friendship isn't foundation enough, I don't know what is. Are you just gonna let Jisoo go? Will that really make you feel better? Imagine him in some random dude's arms, hugging, _kis_ —"

"I have to find Jisoo again," Jeonghan announced abruptly, cutting Junhui off as he stood to walk quickly out of the room. The Chinese boy watched him, amused.   
  
"Ah, jealousy. Truly the driving force of many people."

/

It took Jeonghan so long to find Jisoo. The dorm wasn't even that big, _why was he so hard to find?_ He had passed by almost every other member before being pointed to the right direction. He went to the boy's room first, but he wasn't there. Only to end up where he started, in front of the door, this time certain that Jisoo was inside. If anything, the time spent looking for Jisoo just added to the general anxious feeling he had. Seungkwan and Seokmin were in the room, too, but they were pre-occupied with something to fully care about what was happening.   
  
"Shua."

"Yeah?" Jisoo stood up from his bed to greet Jeonghan at the door. "Mingyu said you were looking for me."

"I need to talk to you," Jeonghan said, glancing at the other boys in the room then back at Jisoo. "Privately." 

Somewhat surprised yet ever so obedient, Jisoo nodded. He stepped out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind him as he did so. Normally, Jeonghan wouldn't have considered talking out in the hallway as private, but all the other rooms were probably occupied anyway. Anywhere else also had a member or two lingering about, even if some of them were out. As long as he kept their voices relatively soft, it should be fine. He couldn't wait anymore. This had to do. 

"You know how you mentioned your mystery guy is a vocal, visual, and has a good personality?"

Jisoo smiled fondly at the thought and nodded, which made Jeonghan's stomach clench. No backing out now, thought. 

"I mean. I'm all of those too, right?"

"You can say that," the other boy said, a twinkle in his eye as he said so. 

"I make you laugh, too. I'm fun."

"Of course." 

"Okay, see, I had a point with this," the brunette whined, pouting a little since he can't seem to get the words out. The other boy remained patient as ever, just watching him. After a few more seconds of internal panic, he could feel the sudden fast heartbeat inside his chest. He was finally going to _confess to his best friend,_ of all things he could be doing _._ Taking a deep breath, Jeonghan looked at the pink haired boy squarely in the eye before finally continuing, "Jisoo, date me instead." 

"Hm? What do you mean?" Jisoo asked, the corners of his mouth twitching. 

Jeonghan huffed, "you know precisely what I mean, Shua. I'm like your mystery guy anyway. No, actually, I've even better. I'll prove it. Date me instead." 

"Are you just saying this to win the bet?" 

" _No!_ " He blurted out in panic. "No, no, definitely not that. I— I like you, Hong Jisoo. A lot. I'd really like it if you would date me instead. I'll even quit the bet and cancel everything. Just don't go after that mystery guy. If he asks you out, reject him. Date _me_ instead." 

Each second spent in silence was like torture to Jeonghan as Jisoo looked like he was pondering over what had happened, lips pursed and eyes trained on the ground. Despite his calm appearance, maybe his friend was panicking too. At least he wasn't straight up rejected. 

Yet.

"Let's get Jihoon to hear all this first, then, to prove you're cancelling the bet and that you're being serious," Jisoo finally said, already walking towards when Jihoon was last. The latter had found his way back in the living room once Jeonghan had left. Upon seeing the two approach, he almost left again until Jisoo held a hand up as a sign to wait. Thankfully, the shorter boy obliged. 

"Jeonghan has something to say." 

"Way to put pressure on a guy, Jisoo," the brunette complained half-heartedly in an attempt to calm his nerves, but was only met with smiling eyes in return.   
  
"Well?" Jihoon asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jeonghan swallowed, throat suddenly dry as he spoke, "Wooji, I'm forfeiting the bet. I told Jisoo to date me instead. The bet is cancelled. I won't let him date whoever that guy is." 

The blonde looked back and forth between the two boys, expression impassive. Until the smallest of smiles began to work its way to his face, finally ending with him breaking into full blown laughter, loud and clear. Jeonghan should have been used to Jihoon laughing at his face at this point, but it was still really unnerving to have it happen right after he confessed his feelings to Jisoo. What gives? There was also the concern of the other members popping in and ruining the whole moment, but that thought left his mind when Jihoon spoke again.

"Yoon Jeonghan, I told you so."

"What?"

The younger boy smirked as he turned towards Jisoo, "as always, congrats on winning the bet, Jisoo. What prize do you want?" 

“Thanks, Jihoon. I already got what I wanted.”

" _What?_ " Jeonghan asked again, louder this time, about to follow up on that question when he suddenly felt an arm snake around his waist. Next thing he knew, there were soft lips on his, effectively shutting him up and drowning anything else he was about to say. Along with that, the bones in his body began to melt and he felt weak in the knees. His body was pulled closer to deepen the kiss. This part he liked. He wouldn't complain. But still, Jisoo was kissing him, Jihoon had said the other boy had won the bet, and— 

_Oh._

Jisoo pulled away soon after, grinning widely, "care to say anything about how subtle ways don't work, Jeonghannie?" 

"You— this whole time—"

"Mhm," Jisoo hummed, placing a kiss on his forehead. 

"You made me believe— I had a list! I was so sure— you're _so mean_ , Hong Jisoo!"

"Yeah," he continued placing kisses on Jeonghan's cheek as the boy spoke, which really just distracted him from his train of thought. He was annoyed. He was shocked. He was being kissed by Jisoo again. All complaints flew out the window at that, along with trying to understand what has happened throughout the past few weeks.  It made sense, somewhat, if he looked closely. It also just completely blew his mind. 

Still in the living room, Jihoon had a look of disgust on his face that neither boys saw.

“Gross.”

Break ups, failed relationships, and broken hearts. Yoon Jeonghan was pretty used to these things, but he was beginning to think that he'd much rather get used to the idea of kissing Jisoo. He’ll force some kind of explanation out of the other boy some other time, for now he was too distracted by how good of a kisser his best friend was. Yet another thing he didn’t know, but was glad to be experiencing firsthand instead of hearing from somebody else. Most important lesson of all: never make a bet with Hong Jisoo. Still. This was definitely worth losing the bet.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my work and would like to support me, please consider buying me coffee! https://ko-fi.com/stilljunhui


End file.
